The Red Dragon
by Kaltmr
Summary: [Xenosaga]T: mild swearing and some descriptive battle scenes. ShionXGaignan. Gaignan and the gang are off to get a peace treaty signed for Helmer, but what happens when his Red Dragon goes off? R&R plz! FINISHED!
1. Helmer's Request

Stranded with a Red Dragon

Disclamer: No,I don't own Xenosaga, or any of their characters. I'd like to, but I don't, so don't sue me.

Chapter 1

Helmer's Request

Shelly's face appeared on a screen in front of Gaignan. "Master Gaignan? There's an incoming transmission coming from Representative Helmer. Would you like me to patch it through?"

"Yes, thank you Shelly." Gaignan put down the papers he was working on.

"Gaignan! How are things going at the Foundation?" Helmer greeted happily.

"Fine! Just fine! Tell me... to what do I owe this visit?"

"Well..." Helmer looked down for a moment, hesitating. "I need for you to go somewhere for me."

Gaignan nodded. "Go on..."

"There has been somewhat of a secession in the Federation. Representative Jonus from Ataria has left the Federation. He refuses to talk with any other Representatives, but we want to see if they would agree to a peace treaty. We don't know if they would go so far as to go on a full out rebellion and attack the Federation, but we're hoping the treaty could stop it."

"I see. But why are you asking me? Couldn't you have sent another man? An agent from the Federation?"

"He said he won't have anyone from the Federation, and he knows who is from the Federation and who isn't. He worked with recruiting members. Anyways, we choose you because Ataria is on the outer edge of the star cluster... and the Durandel just so happens to be near there."

"I see... well, ok then Helmer. I'll do it. Anything else?"

"I'd like for you to take the Elsa, not the Durandel. No offense or anything but a big ship will attract some attention. And there is a Gnosis-infested planet that you would have to get by. I'm sure you'd be much safer with Jr. and his friends. Besides, if a rebellion does break out while you're negotiating they should prove useful."

"Understood. I'll leave for Atartia as soon as possible."

"Thanks old friend." Helmer's happiness came out again. "I owe you one."

"Actually you owe me 312 ones... no wait, this is 313. But yeah... you owe me."

Chuckling, Helmer's face disappeared from Gaignan's desk.

---

A/N All right, my 1st chapter of my first fanfic ever to be posted here... R&R plz!


	2. Mind probing and Jr's medling

A/N: Thanks all, for the reviews.I know the 1st chapter was short, but this one's much longer. Enjoy the Shion/Gaignan-ish!

Chapter 2

Mind probing andJr.'s meddling

"Hey Cpt. Matthews! We have to escort Gaignan over to Ataria. That's ok with you, right?"

"Huh?" Cpt. Mathews took his cigarette out of his mouth. "Well, that's fine by me. When are we leaving Little Master?"

"As soon as everyone's here." Jr. replied.

"Is everyone here?" asked Gaignan, who was a bit impatient at the moment.

"No." Jin answered. "My sister... still hasn't arrived. Typical of her... to keep everyone waiting. She should know by now to stay on time!"

"What was that Jin?" said a female voice.

Gaignan turned around to see who had spoken. A woman had entered the Elsa's bridge... he assumed it was Shion. She didn't seem like a woman though. An angel was a better way to describe her. She had tan shorts on that matched her fair hair. Above her red top was a small brown vest, with strands of cloth left to move freely at the elbows.

"Ok..." Jr. counted heads "That's everyone. Ready to leave Gaignan? Gaignan?" Gaignan wasn't responding. He was just staring... at Shion. "_Gaignan!_" Jr. psychically yelled at his brother. "_What is wrong with you?_"

"_Shion..."_

_"Gaignan!" _Jr. yelled again.

"_What? Oh yes... I'm sorry. What do you want?"_

Jr. mentally giggled at Gaignan. "_So, you got the hots for Shion, eh?"_

"WHAT?" Gaignan yelled out loud, still starring at Shion. Everyone looked at him. "Oh... I'm sorry." he turned to Jr. who was fighting to keep from falling on the floor laughing. "Jr. I'm ready. We can go now."

Still shaking at what he just witnessed in his brother's mind, Jr. just motioned at Matthews. "All right Tony, let's get a move on!"

"Aye aye Captain!"

---

After travelling for a few hours with nothing happening Gaignan returned to the bridge. Not many people were there, just Cpt. Matthews, chaos, Hammer, Tony, and Jr. "Is it going to be much longer?"

Hammer pushed a few buttons on his console. "It should only be 2-3 more hours. We'll be passing the Gnosis-infested planet very soon though."

"And we're not doing anything to avoid it?"

"Unless you want the trip to take afewhours longer... then no."

Gaignan sighed and leaned against the wall. Jr., who was even more bored than Gaignan, began probing his brother's mind again. Being careful just to stay at his outside thoughts, he listened carefully but Gaignan sensed him and instantly kicked him out. "_What's this? Don't want me to see? Come on I'm bored!"_ Jr. whined. "_Besides whatever your thinking about can't be that bad can it? Unless of course... your thinking about Shion again."_

Gaignan blushed, but denied it. "_It's none of your business what I'm thinking about Rubedo. And no, I'm not thinking about Shion."_

_"Ah, but you are." _Jr. said. "_I caught a glimpse of what you were thinking before you sensed me. It was Shion wasn't it?_" Jr. was lying, of course, but he knew if he said the right thing his brother would crack.

Gaignan was shocked, but he didn't let it show. "_How could you have seen that? I pushed you out as soon as I sense you!_"

"_As soon as you sensed me? Must've sensed me late cause I saw something alright! Come on just tell me!"_

Gaignan growled... but relented. "_Ok fine. So I was thinking about Shion."_

'Jackpot!' thought Jr.

"_How can't you think of her though? She's so... uh..." _Gaignan struggled to find the right words_ "striking... at... uh...first glance._

_"So you do like her! I knew it!"_

_"Ok, fine! Yes, I do... but you had better not tell ANYONE! You hear me? Or I will make your life living hell." _Gaignan gave Jr. his famous "you-better-do-as-I-say-or-I'll-kill-you" look and Jr. nodded quickly.

"_You know what though?" _Jr. laughed "_I bet you too would make a great couple! You'd look good together!"_

"Oh just shut up already." Gaignan said out loud as he left the bridge. "I'm going to get something to eat."

"_You sure about that? Or is that just an excuse to go see Shion?"_

"_WHAT?" _Gaignan stopped walking. "_What are you talking about? I'm HUNGRY!"_

_"Well..." _Jr. already had a plan put together. "_She's in there cooking her awesome curry. Well, while you're there grab me a plate would you?"_ Jr. laughed and ran off.

'Oh boy...' Gaignan thought as he reached the kitchen. 'Here... goes... nothing...'

As soon as he entered the room the smell of great food entered Gaignan. Sitting down at the bar, he watched Shion and two kitchen droids cook. One of them suddenly stopped working... but then it started up again. Gaignan took no notice.

"Hi there Gaignan!" Shion looked up. "What's up?"

"Um... nothing... I'm just hungry."

---

In his room, Jr. had a controller on his hands and glasses on. He was controlling one of the cooking droids and watching Gaignan as he interacted with Shion. He loved every moment of it.

---

"Oh so you're here for some of my famous curry? Everyone on the ship loves it! Even the Captain can't get enough of it, even though he insults it with every bite."

Gaignan forced out a laugh. "Well, I was going to grab one of the ready made meals that are always on board, but since you're cooking... I guess I can't refuse!"

"Great!" Shion motioned towards the better chairs "Take a seat over there, I'll join you in a minute."

Gaignan went over to the larger tables, and a droid followed him. Not long after, Shion came back with a tray of curry, and the other droid had one as well. "Here you go..." she said as she walked over to him. He stood up to take it but right before they made it to each other, Jr.'s droid moved forward and tripped Shion! She fell on Gaignan and they landed on the floor.Shaking off the shockthey looked into each other's eyes...

---

"YES!" yelled Jr. "Gaignan's going to love me for this!"

---

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry Gaignan!" standing up, Shion saw that all the curry had landed on Gaignan's shirt.

"Oh my... it seems we've made a mess haven't we?" Gaignan got up and began wiping his curry covered shirt.

"Oh Gaignan, I'm so sorry! Here..." she started unbuttoning the shirt.

Gaignan took a step back. "Uh, Shion? What are you doing?"

"Oh... let me wash your shirt for you! It's the least I could do for you."

"But... this shirt is all I have on..."

"That's ok." she continued unbuttoning. "I'm not a young girl Gaignan."

"Well.. ok."

Shion took Gaignan's black shirt and ran to the back of the kitchen. Gaignan followed, and leaned against the counter, watching her wash.

"So... Shion... do you have a boyfriend?"

She stopped washing for a moment, "Well.. I did..." but then continued.

"I don't understand... you did?"

"Yes..." she said "... his name was Kevin. He worked on Kos-Mos with me... but the prototype... it awoke all of a sudden. She killed almost everyone who had worked on her! Kevin and I were the only ones left... I went after Kos-Mos and tried to shut her down, but she attacked me. Right before she was about kill me... Kevin got in the way..."

"Oh... I'm sorry..." Gaignan sighed 'I still might have hope.' he thought. Shion suddenly burst out in tears. Gaignan was taken aback by this sudden display of emotion.

"Oh Gaignan... I'm sorry. It's just that... I know Kevin would want for me to move on... to love again... but I can't. I feel a need to though! It's so hard not having someone here for me..." she burst out crying again, and hugged Gaignan.

He took this chance to tell her how he felt. "Shion... it's ok. Just remember this... I'll always be here for you. Always."

Shion looked up at Gaignan, and stared into his eyes. "G-Gaignan?"

"Shion... I love you. Let me be here for you..."

"Oh Gaignan..." she put her hand up to Gaignan's face... and kissed him. As they... shared their feeling for each other... the door to the kitchen opened, and Allen walked in. Not finding anyone by the bar, he walked into the back...

"Hey Chief? Any chance I could get some of your curry? I'm starving... Chief! What are you doing?"

Startled by their intruder, they immediately broke away, but not before Allen saw.

"Allen!" Shion blushed, and quickly gave Gaignan his shirt.

"Um... Allen... this isn't what it looks like." Gaignan stepped away from Shion, hastily putting his shirt back on.

"You know what? Never mind..." holding back a sob, Allen quickly left the kitchen. "Sorry if I interrupted anything."

All of a sudden, the Elsa shook violently, and alarms blared. Red lights flashed everywhere and the droid that Jr. didn't control went haywire.

"What's going on?" Shion gasped.

"Hey everyone!" Matthews' gruff voice blared over the intercom. "Get to the bridge!"

---

"What seems to be the problem?" Gaignan asked Jr. upon entering the bridge with Shion.

"Gnosis." he said simply. "We should've avoided that planet! It's too late now though."

"There's been a breech!" chaos pointed out. "There are three Gnosis in the cargo bay. Countless more are attacking the outer hull. We can't take much more!"

"AHHHH!" Hammer yelled "The engines have been hit! Thrust is down 40 percent!" the Elsa shook again.

"Damn!" Matthews kicked Hammer's seat. "The debt just keeps piling in doesn't it?"

"I can't keep her up!" yelled Tony. "Prepare for a crash landing!"

Falling through the atmosphere, the Elsa descended into the Gnosis-infested planet, chased by Gnosis left and right. Flames were everywhere as the ship finally hit land. Interestingly enough, the Gnosis didn't follow through with their attack.

"Where are the Gnosis?" asked Ziggy, still tense and ready for battle.

"They've pulled back, it seems." replied chaos. "They're playing cat and mouse. They know we can't do anything..."

"Well don't just stand there! Let's get to work!" Matthews yelled. "The ship won't fix itself now will it?"

---

A/N: gasp They like each other! lol. hope you liked it! R&R plz! next chapter, Gnosis Attack!


	3. Gnosis Attack

thanx all for teh reviews again! here's the battle!

Disclaimer: yea, yea, i don't own any of the xenosaga stuff...

Chapter 3

Gnosis Attack

Night had fallen, and everyone was gathered outside of the Elsa around a campfire.

"Man, we're finally out of the ship!" Jr. sighed.

"And what's wrong with the ship?" asked Matthews.

"Nothing, nothing!" Jr. stepped back. "It's just that repairing broken parts all day kinda take a toll on the body you know what I mean?" Hammer and Tony agreed immediately.

"I sure do." said Gaignan. "It happens all the time with the paperwork at the Foundation. No matter how much of it I get done, more of it just reappears! It's just like the Gnosis... I'd take Gnosis over paperwork any day!"

"You must either really hate paper, or are really confident in your fighting skills." laughed chaos.

"Well, sure! Would you rather file papers all day or fight some Gnosis?"

chaos laughed again. "I see your point."

"Well, it's getting late." Ziggy said, noticing Momo yawn. "You all get some sleep, I'll take first watch."

"That's nice of you Ziggy." said Shion, walking over to Gaignan

"Shion! Sleep over here by me! We wouldn't want you disturbing Gaignan now would we?"

"_Yeah right. I'm sure you'd love her with you wouldn't you?" _Jr. mentally joked.

"_Now's not the time for this." _Gaignan mentally blocked Jr. "It's perfectly ok Jin." Gaignan assured. "Your sister is not at all disturbing, in fact her presence is more than welcome."

"Ha! See Jin!" Shion stuck her tongue out at her brother. "He doesn't mind!"

"Well... ok then. As long as he doesn't mind. Hey Ziggy, I'll take next watch." Jin mentioned. "Just wake me when you get tired."

"Ok, thanks." the cyborg walked further from the campfire, preparing to circle around his friends.

"Ziggy! I'll watch with you!" Momo rushed up to join Ziggy. "I can make sure you don't fall asleep!"

Ziggy smiled. "I'd like that."

With no other words said, or needed, everyone fell asleep preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.

---

"Everyone! Wake up!" Momo's voice pierced the silent night.

Jin, a light sleeper, was the first to awake.

"What's the problem?" he asked a fearful Momo.

"Gnosis! They're everywhere! Ziggy... he's..."

"Hurry everyone! Get ready!" Ziggy burst through the bushes that Momo had just came through. "They're coming! We have to-" he was suddenly cut off. A large green claw protruded from Ziggy's chest, just missing his metal parts and puncturing the flesh near his heart. Falling to the ground, the large spider-like Gnosis yanked it's leg out of Ziggy's body.

"Ziggy! No!" Momo ran towards the Gnosis, brandishing her bow and arrow but Jr. quickly held her back.

"No, Momo, don't go! Let us take care of the Gnosis so you can get Ziggy into the Elsa."

Momo nodded and everyone began brandishing weapons as Gnosis began surrounding the small group. Pushing Cpt. Matthews, Hammer, and Tony into the Elsa, Gaignan joined the others. Not wanting their prey to get further away, the Gnosis quickly attacked.

chaos' "wings" grew and he began fighting off the airborne Gnosis. Kos-mos' wings appeared and she flew off to join chaos. Jr. lured the spider away from Ziggy, and Momo pulled him back towards the Elsa. Things were flying through the air, threatening to cut through anything that got in it's way. Acid from Gnosis, bullets from Jr., and energy waves from chaos and Kos-Mos filled the night sky.

"Momo watch out!" another spider rushed Momo, seeing her trying to take away Ziggy. Shion ran over to her and instantly began firing upon it. Getting it's attention, she rushed off in another direction, distracting it enough to give Jin the time to stab it from behind.

"Thanks you two!" Momo smiled as she dragged the unconscious android into the Elsa. They smiled back but quickly tuned back to the battle as they were assaulted by a pack of wolf- like Gnosis.

Gaignan, having no weapon of his own, had to use his psychic powers to defend himself from the Gnosis threat. Seeing some winged Gnosis flee from chaos, he stopped them from moving, allowing chaos to deliver the finishing blow. More winged ones flew down to Gaignan, so sending a strong blast of psychic power towards them, he sliced their wings off, rendering them motionless. Moving along, so as to avoid any stray shots, he encountered a short blob of a Gnosis who spewed out acid. The blob spat out a huge glob of acid, so his immediate reaction was to send the acid flying back at the Gnosis, which he did. What he didn't expect to happen was for it to go flying back... and land in front of Shion. With Jin preoccupied with the remaining wolfs and Shion not noticing the short blob, it attacked.

"AHHHH!" Shion screamed out in pain.

"Noooooo!" Gaignan yelled. His eyes began glowing green. An green aura engulfed his body. "No... not now!" he yelled out, falling to the ground. "Damnit!" he struggled as he stood up "Red Dragon mode... activating!" the aura enlarged and flashed bright, brighter than the campfire. He ran towards the Gnosis and lifted it up psychically. Everyone turned to watch, and the remaining Gnosis fled, sensing his great power. The blob could be seen squirming in Gaignan's grip. Gaignan brought his hands together, and squashed it.

"Gaignan..." Shion said weakly, attempting to get up.

He turned around and stared at her, eyes still burning with the power of the Red Dragon. Without warning, he punched Shion, sending her back many yards.

"Gaignan!" Jr. yelled. He ran to him. "What's the matter with you?" Gaignan struck out with his other hand, but with his hand open this time. Rather than hitting him, he pushed Jr. back into a tree, and he fell down unconscious.

"Hahahaha!" Gaignan walked over to Shion's weak body, and brought up his hand. Forming a psychic blade, he prepared to strike.

"Oh no you don't!" chaos tackled Gaignan, and pushed him into the ground. "I'm sorry..." chaos took his palm and smacked the side of Gaignan's head, knocking him out.

---

A/N: and so the Red Dragon shows itself! what's going to happen next? a talk with Albedo, that's wht.


	4. Having a Talk with Albedo

Disclaimer: i don't own anything xenosaga. 'cept for the movie scene soundtrack. that's mine. cause i bought a copy! D

Chapter 4

Having a talk with Albedo

"Oooh... my head..." Gaignan awoke and found himself in the Elsa's med lab. "What happened?" he looked beside him and saw Shion in the other bed. There were holes in her clothing, and beneath the burnt cloth were band aids. A large bruise was developing on her left cheek. "My god... Shion, what happened?"

Waking up, Shion sat up and faced Gaignan. She looked slightly confused. "What? Don't you remember? You... you... attacked me..."

"What? I couldn't have... I wouldn't have..." suddenly the entire recollection of what happen in the Gnosis came back to him... including his attack of Shion, and Jr. "Oh no... I did attack you... Shion, you have to forgive me. That wasn't me that attacked you! I was..."

Shion smiled. "Yes... I could sense it. You had this look in your eyes... full of hate and anger. I knew it couldn't be you."

"So you're not... we're still...?"

"Yes." Shion hugged Gaignan. "You're forgiven... and we're still together." Breaking away suddenly she rubbed a burn on her side. "Just... try not to do that again sometime soon."

Gaignan grinned. "I'll try. How are the others?"

"As far as I know Jr. is ok... he just has a big headache. Ziggy's still healing though. That hit he took from the Gnosis was pretty bad. A little more to the right, and it would've hit his heart, instantly killing him. Momo's been worried sick. She hasn't left his side since."

"Ok. I think... I'm going down to the base floor for a while..." Gaignan headed for the door.

"Is something wrong?" Shion slowly followed.

"Please don't follow. Nothing's wrong... I just need some time to think about... what happened to me back there."

"Ok... well we're all having a meeting on the bridge soon. Don't be late."

"I won't." he said, leaving the room.

---

The base floor of the Elsa was the calmest place, a great place to be if you wanted to be alone... as long as you didn't mind all the droids.

"I can't believe it..." Gaignan muttered to himself. "I actually went Red Dragon again... I thought that would never happen again..."

---

Aboard his giant A.G.W.S., the Simeon, Albedo was bored. "What is there for a U.R.T.V. to do?" he asked out loud. "Maybe I should bug Nigrado... he probably doesn't have anything to do at that rotten Foundation of his." he laughed at a thought. "I should go attack the place! It's not like he couldn't rebuild it with all the spare money he's got lying around!" he began searching for his brother at the Foundation, but couldn't seem to find him. "What's this? He's not there? Where is he?" sending a mental search signal as far as he could, he finally found who he was looking for... but not where he expected him to be. "_Nigrado! What are you doing on the Elsa?_"

"_What? Albedo? What do you want?"_

_"What's this?"_ Albedo chuckled "_I sense fear... anger... hatred... and... power! Could it be... you've gone Red Dragon again? And I thought you had it "under control"?" _he mocked smugly.

_"What?" _Gaignan was shocked that Albedo knew about Red Dragon. "_How do you know about Red Dragon mode? The only U.R.T.V.'s that know about it are the ones who are capable of it! You're can't go Red Dragon... can you?"_

Albedo laughed at his brother's nervousness. "_No... I can't. Had I been connected with Rubedo longer, I probably would've developed the Red Dragon curse. Unfortunately for you, when we split, I got regeneration instead of the Red Dragon. So... what did you do that made you go Red Dragon? Someone close to you must've been in danger... was it Rubedo? Did that blasted brother of mine get attacked by a Gnosis?"_

Gaignan laughed at the idea of Jr. getting sneaked up on by a Gnosis, with his keen senses and what not. "_Sorry to disappoint you Albedo, but no, nothing happened to Rubedo."_

_"Then how did you go Red Dragon? Something must've happened... you can't just go Red Dragon on a whim. It doesn't just come."_

_"How would you know about how Red Dragon works?"_

_" My dear brother..." _Albedo laughed, loving being in control of the situation."_I know everything about Red Dragon. Do you remember the day you killed our bastard of a father, Yuriev?" _Gaignan shuddered at that memory, not wanting to remember. _"Well since everyone was hunting for you, security was low... so I took a couple files from the memory bank. Those files happened to be all about the Red Dragon curse."_

Gaignan flinched. If he knew all about it, then he could easily manipulate a battle with him and turn him against his friends. "_I... I don't believe you!" _

"_Believe what you want brother... but I will make you believe. There are a few U.R.T.V.'s who develop the Red Dragon curse, you and Rubedo being two of them. Now, being a Red Dragon is like being a schizophrenic. Something takes over you... and you can't really control it. The Red Dragon only takes over when something highly angers you, mainly when a loved one is in danger. During this Red Dragon mode, you totally lose control, it fights for you. You become extremely powerful, but it doesn't differentiate from friend and foe, it just attacks and attacks until there's nobody left to attack. Now.." _he chuckled. _"Do you believe now or must I go on?"_

Gaignan gasped. "_You really do know everything about the Red Dragon..."_

_"Would I lie to my own brother?" _Albedo laughed "_Now I've only read reports on this... and being the curious person I am, I'd like to see a Red Dragon in action... what say we have a little fight?"_

_"What? NO! We can't! We have enough problems as it is! Don't come here now, please!"_

_"Reduced to begging now are we Nigredo? HAHAHAHA! I think I'll drop by for a visit!" _With his point made, Albedo cut the mental link and punched in the location of the Elsa. "Now this..." Albedo laughed "Is going to be fun!"

_---_

Gaignan was breathing hard at what he just heard. Albedo was coming here. He knew everything he needed to know about the Red Dragon, if not everything about it! "This... is going to be a problem."

Matthews' voice blared over the intercom. "Everyone! Meeting on the bridge, get over here now!"\

---

A/N: skool's starting up... i may not be updating as much as i'd like to. but stay with me! i'll update as much as possible... next chapter... Jin's outbust!


	5. Jin's Outburst

**White Pheonix:** heh... you may not like jin's... attitude in this chappie. hides behind chair plz don't kill me... it's for the drama!

Disclaimer: xenosaga isn't mine... how many times must i go through this... sighs

Chapter 5

Jin's outburst

Gaignan entered the bridge and saw that the only people missing were Ziggy and Momo. The meeting was about to start when Jin suddenly ran at Gaignan. "You bastard!" he pushed Gaignan up against the wall and put his sword to his throat. Everyone was surprised at his outburst. Jin was usually the calm one! "How dare you attack my sister! I'm going to make you pay!"

Shion ran to Jin and tugged at the arm that held the blade. "No, Jin! Please, don't!"

"Shion, he attacked you!" he didn't take his eyes off of Gaignan. "He is getting what he deserves."

"Jin." Gaignan said cooly. "You must believe me... that wasn't me who attacked Shion. I wouldn't harm her at all! I was being possesed by something called the Red Dragon. That's what attacked her not me." Jr. flinched at that remark.

"How do I know... you're not lying." Jin kept the blade steady at Gaignan's neck.

"You just... have to trust me."

Shion's next plea shocked everyone just as much as Jin's outburst. "Jin, please don't! I love him! You can't kill him!" Jin looked from Shion, to Gaignan, to Shion again. Sighing, he put his sword back in his sheath. Shion said a quick thanks and ran to Gaignan, embracing him.

"You're off the hook for now..." Jin said, not startled at Shion's love for Gaignan. "But I'm warning you, do that again... and I **will** slit your throat."

Rubbing his neck, Gaignan went to the side of the room opposite of Jin. Shion followed, and Cpt. Matthews started the meeting. "Well now, aren't we one big happy family." he sighed. "As some of you may or may not know, the ship has almost completed it's repairs. We just need a couple more hours, and we'll be off. Anyone who wants to help is welcome to."

"Captain!" chaos suddenly interrupted. "I'm sensing a large ship heading this way, from space!"

"Another ship?" Matthews asked. "What the hell would anyone want on a Gnosis filled planet?"

"Can you identify what kind of ship it is chaos?" Jr. asked. "Is it U-Tic?"

"No... it's not U-Tic..." he muttered, pressing a few buttons. "It seems to be... a large A.G.W.S."

"No..." Jr. was at a loss for words. "It can't be..."

"Yes." Gaignan replied. "It's Albedo."

---

A/N: short chappie, i know. but just wait... and review... and you'll be rewarded... with Albedo's Assault! a looooooong chappie.


	6. Albedo's Assault

**White Pheonix**: comes out from behind chair lol, go SJWR! i think. well, don't worry, he won't be like that anymore... he'll be much nicer. but... this rabid thing... it worries me... (tries to remember if jin gets hurt later on or not...) don't worry tho, it's for drama... 

Disclaimer: I'm only in high skool! i can't get sued! i don't own xenosaga! plz don't sue me!

Chapter 6

Albedo's Assault

"Get out there!" Matthews yelled. "He can't damage the ship!"

Hammer and Tony suddenly started pushing everyone out of the Elsa. "We don't want to start our repairs all over again!" Hammer yelled.

"You take care of Albedo, we'll fix the ship!" Tony said.

Jumping out of the Simeon, Albedo greeted the approaching party. "Well now isn't this nice. You're all here to welcome- no wait. Someone's missing... ma peche and her little bodyguard aren't here. Was she the one who got hurt Nigredo? Must've gotten little Rubedo really worried over that one!"

"What is he talking about?" Jr. asked, puzzled.

"He knows about me going Red Dragon." he said, motioning to everyone to get to the side. Jr. joined Gaignan, and the two stared down Albedo.

"Well then..." Albedo began glowing purple. "Let's see that Red Dragon of yours!" he sent a ball of purple energy at the group. Everyone fell back, stunned by the blast.

"Grrrrr... Albedo! Leave them out of it! This is between us!" Jr.'s body began glowing red, and Gaignan green.

"Well... what are you going to do about it?" he laughed manically.

"We're going to stop you!" Gaignan ran forward, Jr. by his side, and both sent waves of energy at Albedo.

Albedo jumped back, avoiding the blast, and returned fire. The two jumped in different directions, and varied their attacks. Jr. took out his guns and began firing, hitting Albedo at every joint that was vulernable. Gaignan created a psychic blade and swiped at Albedo, slashing him multiple times across the chest. "You think these scratches will affect me? You haven't forgotten my powers have you?" Sending a shockwave through the ground, Albedo sent Gaignan and Jr. back several feet. Then, gathering energy, he healed all his wounds. He looked as he did when he came. "Come on brothers... I know you can do better than that! Maybe... you need a little... encouragement!" he sent another, larger blast at their already wounded friends.

"Stop it!" Jr. yelled.

"You've taken it too far Albedo..." Gaignan muttered.

Their auras grew brighter, and the cried out in unison. "Red Dragon mode... activating!"

"Yes!" Albedo screamed, his white cape billowing behind him due to the power "This is it! This is... Red Dragon! Now we're gonna have some fun!"

Gaignan, who achieved full power before Jr., attacked instantly. Sending out a blast of invisible energy, he blew off Albedo's right arm. Running to him with another psychic blade, he slashed through Albedo's clothing, and stabbed it into his chest. Jumping back, he left the green blade in Albedo, but it was disappearing fast. "Jr.! Hurry!" Gaignan's voice, although recognizable, didn't seem like his. It was... different... it had an evil sound to it.

Jr. had the same evil sound in his response. "I got it!" As Gaignan leapt back, Jr. jumped forward kicking the blade further into Albedo's chest.

Albedo coughed up blood, but made no attempt to regenerate at the moment. "This rush! This pain! It's magnificent! More, more! Give me more!" he ran forward and shot a blast at Jr. who evaded it easily.

"We have to help them!" Shion yelled. They all stood up, despite their pain, and readied their weapons.

"Guys, whenever you're ready!" chaos yelled.

They glanced back and saw the others ready to fire. Gaignan hastily sent two more energy blasts at Albedo, one at the blade, and another at his left leg. With only two limbs remaining, Albedo began to regenerate. Purple energy surrounded the empty space where his limbs once were. The two jumped out of the way, and Jin yelled "Fire!" Everyone (save Jin, who had a close combat weapon) attacked Albedo. The blast sent Jr., who was a little too close to the explosion, flying back and he once again fell unconscious. When the smoke cleared there was nothing left of Albedo.

"Well..." Gaignan stared at the group with his flaming green eyes. "Now that that's over with... it's your turn!" he ran towards his friends.

"No!" Shion yelled running in front of Gaignan with her arms out. "Don't hurt us! We're your friends!"

"Shion! What are you doing!" Jin yelled.

"I know what I'm doing Jin! Stay back! Gaignan! It's me... Shion."

"Shi... on..." Gaignan's voice didn't sound as bad... but his eyes still burned.

"Yes... Gaignan it's me..." Shion slowly walked over to Gaignan. When he didn't react violently, Shion came face to face with the Red Dragon. "Don't worry... I'm here now..." she carefully hugged Gaignan.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he yelled, pushing Shion back. His aura left him, in a large ball of green, and floated around him. "That's it!" his voice was normal again. "You'll never make me hurt my friends again!" he pointed at the green ball of energy. "I'm the one calling the shots now! Your... MINE!" the ball plunged into Gaignan's chest, and he screamed. "Arghhhh!" Dissapearing into his chest, Gaignan fell to his knees, smoking from the absorbtion. "I've finally... won."

"Shion." Kos-Mos began beeping, her mechanical eyes staring at the spot where Albedo once stood. "Albedo seems to be regenerating again." they turned to where he once was, and there was more purple energy forming the shape of a body. "At this rate he'll be fully recovered in five minutes."

"He'll never die, will he?" Gaignan asked out loud, suddenly standing up and grabbing Jr. "Hurry everyone, we have to get back to the Elsa! The repairs should be done by now, we have to get away before he know's we've gone!"

Everyone burst through the door and ran to the bridge. "Matthews! Is the ship ready?" Gaignan asked.

"Yeah, they just finished repairing it." he pointed to a very tired looking Hammer, Tony, and Allen. "Why? How did things go with Albedo?"

"We completely disintegrated him, but he's regenerating fast! We have to get off the planet before he completly regenerates!"

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place? Tony, get us out of here!"

"You got it Captain!" Tony quickly sat up.

They got out of the planet's orbit quickly, and headed to Ataria, unawares of the dangers than followed... and the dangers the lied ahead.

---

A/N: well, incase u didn't get that part with the ball of energy, Gaignan will no longer go Red Dragon. he's taken control of it, and can get just as powerful, but stay in control of his body. just so ya know. lol. well, next chappie, Ataria! my super duper made up planet! (waves little flag) R&R!


	7. Ataria

**Akira Bane:** omigosh, i love you! thanx for all the updates! Gaignan/Shion fics are awesome, and they're not slow at ALL! just wait till you see the ending... lol. yep, Red Dragon's a pain. Albedo's the generic opponent, and he's a U.R.T.V. too, so mite as well, rite? Jin's awesome. i love him, he's great. yes, he's in control of his Red Dragon now. unlike... Jr. lol. pheeew... done with all ur updates. well, i'm glad you like it, here's the next chappie for all you.

Disclaimer: meh... it's not mine... ok?

Chapter 7

Ataria

"Welcome to Ataria. What is your business here?" asked a happy looking guide at the Atarian Space Port.

"Greetings." answered Gaignan. "We are here to speak with... former Representative Jonus."

The guide's happy feeling departed as soon as he mentioned Jonus' name. "You wouldn't happen... to be with the Federation would you?"

"No, I assure you. We are not in any way working for the Federation. May we see Jonus?"

"Well... come this way." he led them through busy streets and past many buildings. When it seemed nobody could walk any further, the guide stopped. "This is as far as I can take you." he bowed and left. The group was left in front of a huge building. The sign in front said: Atarian House of Representatives.

"This is it guys... time to meet Jonus." Gaignan entered, followed by everyone else.

The secretary at the front desk greeted them without looking up. "Hello sir or madam. Welcome to the Atarian House of Representatives. Our current leader, Jonus, has left the Federation. We are sorry for any inconvenience. Please come back soon, sir or madam."

"Hello." Gaignan started. "We would like to see Jonus please.

The secretary looked up at Gaignan. "Did you not hear what I said? Jonus has left the Federation. Please come back later wh-"

"You don't understand, miss." Gaignan interrupted "We are here on terms of a peace treaty from the Federation."

The secretary stared at Gaignan, and then at everyone else. She then pushed a button on the desk and spoke into a microphone. "Sir, there's a group of people here who say they want to talk about a peace treaty from the Federation. No sir, they certainly don't look-" she stared at Gaignan again. "-like they're from the Federation. Understood sir, I'll send them up." She pushed the button again and looked back at Gaignan. "Go straight then go in the elevator. 49th floor. He'll be there. Have a good day and thank you for coming to the Atarian House of Representatives."

So taking the simple directions given to them by the secretary, they all went to the 49th floor via elevator. What they saw was not what they expected. Rather than entering a hallway or a secretarial room, it was a giant office! Huge pictures lined the walls, each one perfectly depicting the face of former Federation Representatives, all up to Jonus. At the end of the office, in front of a wall of windows, was a desk and a chair.

"Welcome." said a voice. The chair remained facing away from them. "What business do you have here?"

"Well..." Gaignan cleared his throat. "We're here to propose the signing of a peace treaty."

The chair turned to them, and in it sat Jonus. He was an old man, slightly wrinkled, with blond hair and gentle brown eyes. Dressed in the Atarian colors of red and brown, he no longer had his Federation uniform on. "Hmm... good. The Federation still lives up to it's words I see. I don't remember seeing you around the Federation."

"You shouldn't sir." Gaignan chuckled. "We don't work at the Federation. We're just good acquaintances of the Miltian Representative Helmer. We happened to be nearby, so he asked us to drop by.

"I see." he nodded. "A peace treaty? What kind... of peace treaty?"

"Well... it says here..." Gaignan took out a folder filled with papers. "That if you sign this treaty, the Federation will not have a violent response to your leave from the Federation, but you may not show any violence towards the Federation. Furthermore..." he shuffled through some more papers. "This also states that you will agree to meet with a Federation negotiator in an attempt to find an agreement on the terms on which you would reenter the Federation as a Representative of Ataria."

"Hmm... sounds pretty good to me. When would I meet with this negotiator?"

"It doesn't specify a date in here sir." Gaignan looked through some more papers. "Ah, here it is, a specific date and meeting place will be determined when news of the signing of the Federation-Ataria peace treaty has reached the Federation."

"Well, I'm a reasonable man... and I don't see any reason not to sign... so..." suddenly, a button beeped on Jonus' desk. "Excuse me." Gaignan nodded and Jonus pushed the button. A young man who looked very nervous appeared on the screen. "Defense secretary Marshall? What is it?"

"There's a large mass gating out right by out atmosphere sir!"

"What? Can you identify it?"

"It's... it's... Gnosis sir!"

"Gnosis?" he turned back to Gaignan. "Con artists!" he yelled. "You led them here to blackmail me into signing the peace treaty didn't you?"

"What?" Gaignan was shocked at the news, as was everyone else. "We wouldn't do such a thing!"

"Well, it's not going to work! We can take care of ourselves here!" Jonus turned back to Marshall. "Well, don't just stand there man! Prepare our defenses! Send out our ships! Arm our A.G.W.S. units! Send all men into battle!"

"Yes sir!" Marshall saluted. Alarms suddenly began blaring. Marshall's voice could be heard over the intercom. "All defense men and A.G.W.S. pilots head to your stations! There is a large mass of Gnosis gating out by our atmosphere! We need you to defend our home! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill! All defense men and A.G.W.S. pilots to your stations! Hurry!"

Jr. pulled Gaignan to the side. "You don't think..."

"They must've followed us." Gaignan could sense what his brother was worrying about. "It's the only way they would have been able to gate out so close to the planet. We'll just have to hope Ataria's defenses are sufficient."

"Sufficient?" Jonus cried out, a vein popping out of his forehead. "Our A.G.W.S. unit are the top of the line! We have the best weaponry out there! Those Gnosis won't know what hit them!"

Another button on Jonus' desk flashed, and he pushed it. A screen popped up, showing the Gnosis. A dark hole had appeared by Ataria but instead of sucking stuff up, it spewed out Gnosis. Gnosis that resembled giant lobsters with wings flew down to the planet, rendezvousing with Ataria's air defense. Already, Ataria was outnumbered, and the Gnosis just kept on coming.

"Now!" Jonus yelled. "Fire! Blast those damned Gnosis to hell!" every ship Ataria had to offer was out there, and the all opened up, revealing their main guns. Energy was gathered and they all simultaneously fired. The blasts reached the Gnosis and... were a direct hit! But... nothing happened to the Gnosis... they just kept on coming.

"What?" Shion carefully examined the Gnosis... they seemed... transparent. "No! Jonus! You have to call off the attack! Those Gnosis aren't on our dimensional plane! You can't damage them!"

"Nonsense! Recharge and fire again!" he yelled, ignoring Shion.

Shion just grunted and turned to Kos-Mos. "Kos-Mos! You have to activate the Hilbert Effect!"

"Negative Shion. The Gnosis are sill in the outer atmosphere. Even at it's fullest range, my Hilbert Effect wouldn't reach them. Activating it now would just be a waste of energy."

Everyone watched as the Atarian ships recharged their guns and fired again. Like last time, they hit their target, but nothing happened. By this time, the Gnosis had reached the ships. Many of the began firing large beams of energy from their "claws". Other's, however, landed on the ships, and began... molting. Their skin broke, and hundreds of tiny crabs came out. They devoured the ship, and flew on to others. The ships instantly began launching their A.G.W.S. units, but they too were useless. The Gnosis just absorbed each and every blow. More of the lobster Gnosis landed on the A.G.W.S. and somehow fused with them... creating G.W.S.. These new Gnosis Weapon Systems, which were equipped with the, to use Jonus' words, best weaponry out there, began attacking other A.G.W.S. and Atarian defense ships. It was a complete massacre.

Marshall's screen popped up again. "Sir! We've lost 40 of our ships, and A.G.W.S. losses exceed 60! What should we do?"

Jonus looked back and forth from screen to screen as the fight went on. "There's nothing we can do..." he had finally realized his odds. As more and more Gnosis gated out and more and more ships were either destroyed or infected, Marshall got even more nervous.

"Sir! What are we going to do? 65 of our ships are gone! A.G.W.S. losses exceed 90! What will we do?"

Jonus looked at Gaignan and Shion. "Call a full retreat. Tell everyone to come back."

"Excuse me sir?" Marshall was even more shocked.

"There's nothing we can do. Call the retreat." Jonus turned off Marshall's screen and turned to Gaignan. "Look, I know I've been hard on you, and I'm very sorry. I'm asking you now... not just for me... but for everyone on this planet... please help us. I'm... I'm begging you..."

Gaignan turned back to the group. "Do you think we can do it?"

Jr. smiled. "We've handled harder things! Now... we just need a plan."

Marshall's screen popped up again. "Sir, I'm sorry to bother you... but it seems there's a problem."

"What could be worse than what's happening now?" Jonus sighed.

chaos chuckled. "Do you really want us to answer that question? I mean, really?"

Jonus laughed, but shook his head. "What's the problem?"

"Well..." another screen popped up, showing a map of the immediate surrounding area. "All the Gnosis are headed our way sir."

"What? Why?" Jonus yelled.

"They're not letting their prey get away." Jin murmured. "They're coming in for the kill."

"No..." Jr. whispered, as shocked as everyone else was.

---

A/N: prepare for the Gnosis battle of your lives! where ALMOST EVERYONE GETS MORTALLY WOUNDED! don't hurt me! (hides behind chair) review please! up next... The X-Buster!


	8. The XBuster

**Akira Bane:** lol, ur welcome. yes, many people get mortally wounded here... (cough cough, accidental stabbing, falling out of the building, etc. cough cough.) Jonus is awesome... he's practical, yet defends his home planet with... great... wht's the word... i dunno. feeling? enthusium? something like that, lol. Ataria? i just made it up... lol. and... the peace treaty? the only reason i had that was so they'd go past the Gnosis planet... it all just kinda flowed from there.

**White Pheonix: **yay, my chappies are interesting! lol. jin won't be turning SJWR for the rest of the ficcy, so don't worry. and he's safe in this chapter too... so yea. huggle away, lol. he does end up... having a lot to do though... due to... stuff. (cough cough, read the above coughing thing, cough cough)

Disclaimer: it's not mine, if it was mine, everyuone would know a lot more about gaignan by now... and albedo. URTV's are awesome...

Chapter 8

The X-Buster

"Ok everyone... we need a plan." Jr. said.

"What can we do though?" Momo asked. "All the Gnosis are coming here! We can't possibly stop them! And they're not even on our plane!"

"It's..." Shion yelled. "Perfect!"

"What?" everyone turned at her.

"No, this is perfect! If they're all coming here, we can solidify them with a wide range Hilbert Effect! Then we can fight them off!"

"Fight them off you say?" Ziggy asked. "You actually believe we can fight them ALL off?"

"Well... no... that's where I'm stuck. I don't know how we can get rid of them all."

"The X-Buster." Kos-Mos said simply. "I can absorb most of them with my X-Buster."

"Most?" Jr. asked. "Not all?"

"Negative." she replied. "Since the G.W.S. still have functioning mechanic parts, my system will not allow me to absorb them. I can only absorb things that are 100 Gnosis."

"There!" Shion jumped. "We have a plan!"

"Not quite." Kos-Mos interrupted. "It has been a while since I have charged my system, and I haven't been in battle for a long period of time." Shion cursed at not charging her on the way to Ataria. "I would require a considerable amount of time to charge up for use of my X-Buster. I am currently charged up at 3."

"Well... that can be worked out. All we have to do is stall for time while she charges." Gaignan said.

"Yeah!" Jr. added. "And while she charges, we can take care of the G.W.S!"

"Perfect!" said Jonus, who was listening in. "Now, could you please get going!"

"Ok, jeez, hold on. Now how are we going to do this?" asked Shion.

"Let's split into three groups." suggested Jr. "One group, the group with Kos-Mos, will go on the roof. This will ensure that her X-Buster absorbs as many Gnosis as possible. This group will have 2 people and Kos-Mos. The others will protect Kos-Mos while she charges up. The next group, a group of two, stays here. That group's purpose is to protect Jonus. He may not be a Federation Representative now, but he will be soon. The last group, a group of three, will go to ground level. They'll stop any of those crab things from getting in here."

"Sounds like a plan. Now who goes where?" chaos asked.

"Um... we need long range fighters at the top with Kos-Mos. Shion and..." Jr. looked around. "Gaignan should do it." he grinned as Gaignan for a moment. "Ziggy... you stay up here with Momo."

"Understood." Ziggy walked over to Jonus, while Momo took out her bow and looked out the windows.

"Well, Jin? chaos?"

"Yes..." he said "Looks like we are going to be down at ground level. How are we going to get there though? I don't feel safe taking the elevator."

"I agree Jin." chaos said. "The shafts must be infested with Gnosis by now. How are we to get down?

"How else?" Jr. smiled and ran at the window. "Race you to the bottom!" he jumped out the window, and fell like a rock to the bottom.

Jin sighed, and gave a stern look to Shion. "I'll be careful Jin. I'd be more worried about Jr. if I were you."

Jin sighed again and looked out the broken window. "Kids..." he too jumped down.

"Good luck everyone!" chaos' wings formed, and he flew down to the bottom.

"All right Kos-Mos." Shion turned to the robot. "Activate Hilbert Effect!"

"Affirmative Shion. 98.364 of the Gnosis are within range of my Hilbert Effect." her visor flipped down over her face and began glowing. "Activating Hilbert Effect." the invisible wave blew over everyone. As soon as the wave stopped, the Gnosis began their attack. Two lobsters came through the broken window.

"I got 'em!" Momo took aim, and shot one of them 3 times, causing it to fall to it's death. The other one flew in and shot at Momo. It grazed her left arm, but she didn't hold up. She shot it again and again, until it fell down dead.

"Shall we ladies?" Gaignan pushed the button for the elevator. It opened up, but hundreds of crabs came crawling out.

"Forget them!" Ziggy yelled, pushing Shion and Gaignan out of the way. He took out his arm blade and began slashing at as many crabs as he could.

"Take the stairs!" Jonus yelled from under his desk. "They should lead you to the roof!" The three ran up the stairs leaving Ziggy to fight off the crabs.

"Ahhhh! Ziggy!" More lobsters came flying through the open window.

"Hang on!" braving the crab covered floor, Ziggy ran to the elevator and pushed the emergency close button, cutting off the rush of crabs. With less enemies to deal with, he finished them off with a couple swipes of his arm blade and ran to help Momo, who was being swarmed with flying lobsters.

"I sure hope the other's are doing better than we are!" Momo cried out.

---

Jin and Jr. were free falling down the side of the building, attacking the winged Gnosis as they passed them. "Haha!" Jr. laughed as he put his arms to his side to fall faster. "I'm going to make it to the ground before you!"

"I wouldn't be so happy about that if I were you." Jin pointed to the ground, which was covered in crabs.

"AHH!" Jr. frantically started shooting at the ground below him, which was coming up fast.

chaos laughed heartily. "This, my friends, is why you have wings!"

"Well, sorry! I'm not lucky enough to be the one with wings!" Jr. landed on the ground awkwardly and he heard a loud crack. "OW!" he fell to the ground and was quickly surrounded by crabs. Dropping his guns, he grabbed his ankle and screamed out in pain.

"Jr.!" chaos yelled, speeding up past Jin, to assist Jr. "What's wrong?" he asked as he landed, shooting aura blasts at the abundant crabs.

"Ahhhhh... my ankle. I think I landed on it..."

Jin, who grabbed a nearby tree, flipped around the branch, and jumped off, landed safely by chaos. "Don't try to get up. Wait until we get rid of these Gnosis first."

"Um... good luck." Jr. muttered, as dozens of G.W.S. flew down toward the trio of guys.

---

As the door to the roof opened, Gaignan, Shion, and Kos-Mos ran out onto the roof. "My god..." Shion whipsered.

Hundreds upon hundreds of Gnosis were swarming the building, and more were on the way.

"Um... Kos-Mos? How much longer until you're fully charged?" Gaignan asked, showing just a hint of nervousness.

"I am currently 22 charged." she reported.

Suddenly, without warning, many of the Gnosis turned and faced the trio on the roof.

"Looks like they've found us... get ready!" Gaignan yelled.

Taking out her M.W.S., Shion charged up a giant ball of electricity. Gaignan suddenly was surrounded with a green aura... "Gaignan! No! Not now!"

"Don't worry Shion..." his voice was normal and he had no fire in his eyes. "I'm in control this time..."

They all flew down towards Shion and Gaignan. Shion let loose her giant electro ball, shocking a group of lobsters and causing them to fall. Gaignan was turning around in circles, shooting blasts of energy here and there. Each blast hit it's target, cutting of a wing here, a head there. Regardless of what it hit, the Gnosis it belonged too fell to the ground.

"Hey Kos-Mos! Can we get a little help here?" Shion yelled, chargin up her M.W.S. again.

"Negative Shion. While charging, I can not enter battle mode. I am afraid you are on your own. Don't worry, I am currently at 34."

"Uh oh..." Gaignan stopped. "Here come the big guns." the lobsters suddenly stopped attacking, and flew down. Replacing them, were just as many G.W.S. units. "Go for the mechanical parts!" he yelled at Shion. "They won't be able to use the A.G.W.S. weapons if we short circuit them! And if Kos-Mos fully charges up, she can absorb them if they don't have any mechanical parts!"

Shion nodded and began firing again. They were both doing very well for a while, breaking off all the mechanical parts on the G.W.S. units. It seemed as if they were going to win, when Shion heard a sound she was dreading she'd hear since she started fighting. click... click "Gaignan! I'm out! No more energy!"

"What?" in that small moment of confusion, the Gnosis took their chance. One G.W.S. rushed up to Shion, and slashed her from behind with it's blade. "No!" Gaignan's aura grew brighter, and he squashed the G.W.S. as he did the Gnosis blob. Holding back his power, he mentally moved Shion over to him. "Are you ok?"

"Yes... I can still walk... but it won't stop bleeding!"

"Just... stand there. Stay by Kos-Mos." holding one hand by Shion and Kos-Mos, he created a mental bubble. The green bubble acted like a shield, reflecting the bullets and stopping the slashes from the G.W.S.. Left with only one hand, Gaignan attempted to fight off the overwhelming numbers of G.W.S. units, but they just kept coming. "Kos-Mos! How much longer?"

"I'm getting there Gaignan. 48."

Grunting, he pushed back all the Gnosis, and took a deep breath. "This... is gonna be harder than I thought."

---

Ziggy and Momo were doing a great job holding back the flying lobsters, but the suddenly stopped coming. "Where'd they go?" Momo wondered out loud.

They heard a crash, and the floor rumbled slightly. They heard a bang from behind them, and they saw a huge bulge in the elevator door. A beam blasted through and hit Ziggy in his mechanical leg. He screamed out as the leg short circuited and fell to the ground. "Don't worry about me." he told Momo. "Just worry about the Gnosis."

"No! Just wait." she dragged Ziggy under Jonus' desk. "Keep an eye on him." Jonus nodded, and Momo turned her attention back to the elevator. More beams blasted out of the door and they finally broke through. A gaping hole in the bottom of the elevator explained how they got in. Hundreds of crabs and quite a few lobsters began piling in. She shot down the lobsters, but they just molted to let out more crabs. The entire floor up to Momo was covered in crabs. She backed up, shooting as many as she could, but it had no effect on the numbers. Whenever she'd shoot one down, two more took it's place. They just wouldn't stop. Momo suddenly gasped. She had reached the broken window, and lost her balance. Regaining her balance, she noticed that more lobsters began flying through the hole. She tried to shoot them down as fast as she could, but they reached her and rammed right into her. "No! Ziggy!" she cried out as she fell through the window.

"Momo!" Ziggy cried from his position under the desk. At the sound of his voice, all the Gnosis turned at him.

"Nice job." Jonus muttered.

As Momo fell she tried to stay as useful as possible, continuing to shoot down Gnosis. But the ground was speeding up to reach her, and all she could do was scream.

---

Knowing the Gnosis would attack Jr. from behind if they attacked in only one direction, chaos went to Jr.'s left and Jin to his right. As the pain subsided, Jr. grabbed his guns and shot anything that got close to him. Ignoring the crabs on the ground, they both took to the air, and faced the G.W.S. units. Jin jumped from unit to unit, stabbing each one in the head. Since all the controls in an A.G.W.S. are in the head, this automatically shut them down. chaos, on the other hand, would make them shoot each other. Jumping on the head of one, he'd send an aura blast at another G.W.S.. This would grab it's attention, and cause it to attack chaos, but he would jump on the attacking G.W.S. to avoid the attack and allow it to destroy the former G.W.S.. After that was done, he'd repeat with another G.W.S. and move on. This continued on for a while, but one G.W.S. ignored chaos and Jin, and went straight for Jr. "Guys! A little help here?" he attempted to shoot it down but to no avail.

Jin landed on one side of the G.W.S. and chaos landed on the other. Jin rushed at it with his sword forward, in a stabbing attempt. chaos flew towards it, filling his fist with his aura energy. The G.W.S. looked from Jin to chaos and just flew up. chaos, who was in control of his powers and flight, stopped flying and dissipated the energy he had gathered. Jin on the other hand, who was running at full speed, couldn't stop. As per law of inertia, neither did Jin's sword, but it found a resting spot, deep in chaos' chest. Jr. and Jin both gasped at what happened, but chaos waved it off. "I'll..." he coughed, spitting a little blood out on the sword. "I'll live..."

Tha G.W.S. landed behind Jin. "I'm sorry." he muttered. He turned around, yanking the sword out of chaos and chopped the G.W.S.' blade in half. chaos groaned, but stayed standing. Jin slashed again, this time chopping it's entire arm off. He then jumped, and sliced the entire G.W.S. in half. He turned back to chaos. "Listen... chaos..."

"It's ok." he put his hand to the wound to lessen the flow of blood. "At least... I can still fly."

"Guys..." Jr. interrupted. "I hate to break up the love party here... but there are still Gnosis flying around!" he shot down a lobster that almost flew into Jin.

"Sorry." Jin muttered, jumping off to assault more G.W.S..

chaos was about to do the same, when he heard a scream. He looked up, and saw Momo falling! "Momo!" he whipsered, flying up.

"What?" Jr. snapped his head up. "Momo?"

chaos took his hand off his wound, and flew even faster towards Momo, trailing a large flow of blood. He then stopped, and held out his arms, grabbing Momo. "chaos! Oh... thank you so much!"

He smiled at the realian. "No problem. Always glad to help."

Jr., who had witnessed the entire thing, saw a lobster fly towards chaos. "chaos! Look out behind you!"

They were so far up though, they couldn't hear Jr. The lobster rammed into chaos' back, and they both fell to the ground. Before they hit the ground, chaos made a feeble attempt to put Momo above him, so as to break her fall. He was successful, and he hit the ground first, falling unconscious.

"Momo!" Jr. cried out. "Are you ok? What happened up there?"

"We were surrounded by crabs! Ziggy's leg short circuited, and I got cornered! I fell down... thank goodness chaos was here."

"Yeah... are you ok? Can you get up?"

"I think I'm ok... but wait." Momo wasn't moving. "I can't move! My movement reactor isn't responding! It must've been damaged in the fall... what are we going to do?"

"Jin!" Jr. yelled out, getting his attention.

Jin jumped off the G.W.S. he had just destroyed and landed by Jr. "What is it? Momo? What are you doing here? Where's Ziggy?"

"Long story." Jr. said. "You have three people to protect now, all of which can't even move."

"Oh great." he grunted, turning around to survey the situation, which wasn't looking good. "We're going to need... some backup."

---

A/N: so how was the Gnosiss battle for their lives? basically everyone is... like dead. > don't kill me! it's great... angst! lol. and no1 DIES, so it's nothing bad. well... now that the end of the story is coming up... (2 or 3 more chapters left! AHHHH!) i need to know from you peeps... you want a sequal? or no? cause i have something... but i won't be posting if it's not wanted. so review peeps! comeing up next, SAVED!


	9. Saved

**White Pheonix: **YAY! someone is for the sequal! who else, who else? lol, ninja ninja ninja jin! i've got that stuck in my head now... > there shall be some GaignanXShion-ish in the next chapter.

Disclaimer: it's not mine, it's not mine, it's not mine...

Chapter 9

Saved!

Back on the roof, things weren't looking good for Shion and Gaignan. Gaignan kept up his psychic bubble, while trying to keep the Gnosis away. Kos-Mos was giving Shion an injection of nanomachines to help with her wound.

"How much longer Kos-Mos?" Gaignan asked.

Kos-Mos looked up at Gaignan for a moment, as if annoyed, but went back to her work with Shion. "I'm currently charged at 84 percent."

"Ok... we're almost there! How's your back Shion?"

She prodded her wound, wincing at the pain. "It's finally stopped bleeding, but the wound is still open. I can feel the nanomachines closing it up though."

All the G.W.S. aimed their guns at the bubble, and fired at the same time. To their surprise, the bubble burst. "What?" Gaignan yelled. "No! I have to use more power!" his aura grew brighter, and he put both hands to his side, and brought them together, as if clapping. Following the motion of his hands, all the Gnosis were piled together in a huge ball. Keeping one hand squeezed, he shot a small beam of energy through the Gnosis ball, creating a tunnel. He then charged up a huge ball of psychic energy and shot it at the tunnel. After the ball entered the tunnel, he brought both hands together again, squashing all the Gnosis around the beam of energy, and it exploded. All the Gnosis died instantly.

Gaignan was breathing very heavily. "That... should hold them off for a while..."

Shion looked down the side of the building. "Yes, but that while will be short lived. They've sensed the loss of these Gnosis, and are already coming! What will we do? Kos-Mos has to charge up faster!"

"I am currently at 90 percent Shion."

"Faster?" Gaignan thought. "That's it! He began charging up his Ether power. "Quick!" he yelled out. A clock appeared in front of Kos-Mos, and the time went by normally, but soon sped up, and disappeared.

"You're a genius Gaignan! She'll be done charging in no time." Shion jumped for joy.

"Don't be happy yet!" Gaignan sighed. "We have some company."Another battalion of G.W.S. units appeared before them. "How can there be this many G.W.S. units? Kos-Mos can't absorb them!"

"We'll just have to fight them." Shion answered.

"98..." Kos-Mos said. "99... 100 percent!" the plates that covered her stomach opened up to reveal a large hole. Bending over, a large spike came out of her back, signifying the preparation for the X-Buster. The hole in Kos-Mos' stomach glowed blue, and the G.W.S. units stopped. A bright flash of light emerged from the hole, and Kos-Mos yelled. "X... BUSTER!" Thosands of blue beams emerged from Kos-Mos' stomach and flew towards the Gnosis. Impaling themselves into the Gnosis, the beams dragged the Gnosis toward Kos-Mos, and they were absorbed into her stomach. They even went for the G.W.S.! They just ripped off the parts that were infected by the Gnosis. When all the Gnosis on the roof had been absorbed, the beams went down, towards the rest of the building.

Gaignan sat down, exhausted. "It's finally... over."

---

Ziggy, who had done well to defend Jonus with his Ether, had finally run out of EP. "Well... Jonus." Ziggy sighed. "It looks like this is the end..."

"Yes..." Jonus had a very sad look in his eyes. "Let me tell you tell you though, if we survive this, I would gladly come back to the Federation. Seeing your bravery, your eagerness to defend me, even after I believed you were attempting to blackmail us... that's enough to make me want to rejoin."

"Thank you sir." he pointed to the Gnosis being pulled away by blue beams coming from the window. "Welcome back to the Federation."

"What? But..." Jonus was shocked. "But how?"

"Kos-Mos..." was Ziggy's only reply.

---

Jin was surrounded by Gnosis, and his sword had been broken by a G.W.S. unit. With only his Ether left, he prepared to cast a wide range thunder spell, when something caught the corner of Momo's eye. It was... a flash of blue light.

"Hey guys! Look!" Momo cried. "Up there!"

Jin paused, and looked up. One Gnosis took this chance to rush Jin, but it was stopped by a blue beam. More Gnosis rushed to attack Jin, but they too were stopped by blue beams. Hundreds of blue beams came down from the roof of the building and took each and every Gnosis there was.

"We've... been saved." Jin sighed.

---

A/N: dang, that's a short chapter. well... sorry to you all... in the last chapter, if Kos-Mos said a number... i ment to put "percent" there... cause when i typed it up, i had teh precent sign... but it didn't show up.. and i didn't notice till now. so... sorry! yupz, well, well... next chapter is the LAST chapter! talk to me! sequal? no? yes? review! up next... Aftermath...


	10. Aftermath

**White Pheonix:** teenage mutant ninja jinners? ack... lol. alright... all the gaignan X shion-ish comes together right here. get ready, and pay attention, lol, wht happens... at the end is wht the sequel (yes, i'm gonna have a sequal) is going to be about.

Chapter 10

Aftermath

"Helmer!" Jonus greeted the Militian Representative. "How are you?"

"Why I'm doing great? How are you? Have you decided on our peace treaty yet?"

"Well... no. I'd like to rejoin the Federation."

Helmer looked a bit surprised. "Really?"

"Yes. The group of people you sent were quite... persuasive. And they proved themselves to be quite helpful... in more ways than you could imagine!"

"That's great news! We'll meet at Fifth Jerusalem in a couple days for your inauguration."

"Thank you Helmer. I assume you'd like to talk with your friend here?"

"Yes, please. Hello Gaignan! I see the negotiations went better than expected!"

"For a small price, yes."

"A small price? I don't understand..."

"Oh, you will when we get back. You most certainly will understand."

"Speaking of which, when should I be expecting you back? A few days?"

"No, we'll be jumping through the nearest U.M.N. column thank you very much."

"Really? Is there a problem? Did something happen on the way there?"

Gaignan looked back at the group. Sitting in a large couch that was requested by Jonus, was Momo, Jr., Ziggy, and chaos, who still weren't able to move. In another chair nearby, Shion was sitting, allowing Kos-Mos to inject more nanomachines into her wound. Turning back to the screen, Gaignan laughed nervously. "Well... you could say that. Lots of things happened on the way... expect to hear about it when we get back..."

"Ok then. I'll see you when you return!" Helmer's face disappeared.

"Shion." Kos-Mos stopped working "I have run out of nanomachines. What do you want me to do?"

Shion poked her wound again. "Ahh... it still hurts a little... I'll go get some more nanomachinces from the medical ward. Stay here with the others please, Kos-Mos."

"Affirmative." Kos-Mos went over and took a look at Momo.

"Allow me to go with you sister." Jin said, walking up to her.

"No... you have to get some medical items too. A splint for Jr. and something to wrap up chaos' wound. It still hasn't stopped bleeding yet." she looked at the ones on the couch.

"But sister!" Jin still showed worry for her wound.

"It's ok Jin." Gaignan interrupted. "I'll accompany her to the med lab. You just get the supplies." Jin looked at the two, and nodded.

"Don't take too long though..." Jr. mentioned, glancing at Gaignan. "We've got to get back to the Elsa so we can get back to the Federation."

---

Shion and Gaignan walked down the empty hall in the med lab, her arm around him for walking support.

"You sure you can walk? I can carry you if you wish."

Shion giggled. "Oh Gaignan, you're sweet."

"As are you..." they stopped and looked at each other.

Shion blushed, and looked away. "You know... it's too bad we have to leave for the Foundation so soon. I was hoping we could have some fun here on Ataria."

"I think I can arrange for that..." he swept Shion off her feet and headed for an empty med room.

"Gaignan! What are you doing?"

Gaignan smiled. "You said you wanted to have some fun..."

Shion punched him playfully. "Yes, but what about the others? They'll worry about us!"

"I can tell Jr. to wait up..." he mentally sent out a message to his brother.

Shion smiled. "But what about my back?" she winced in pain as he lay her down on the bed.

She laughed as Gaignan made a funny face, trying to think. "Hmm..." he said. "I think I can find a way around that..." and he closed the door.

FIN

---

A/F/N (author's final note): so, that's my story: The Red Dragon. how's you all like it? good, bad, ugly? regardless,i liked it, and i enjoyed all teh posting, and the reviews. thanx to you all. i've decided (due to White Pheonix's pro-sequal sign) to have a sequal. expect... a child. yes, you heard me... a child. review everyone! and see you at the next story... Offspring of the Red Dragon!


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